


Kaleidoscope

by Monochild9497



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Death, Character Development, Character Study, Emotional Roller Coaster, Feelings, Fix-It, Gender-Neutral My Unit | Byleth, Hurt/Comfort, My Unit | Byleth Has Emotions, Non-Chronological, Slight Canon Divergence, The power of friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22648135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monochild9497/pseuds/Monochild9497
Summary: What a heavy burden to bear, these feelings are. And yet how wonderful and shining they have made these days. To return to those ashen days before would truly be the greatest of tragedies.Or: Byleth’s journey through processing the emotions and experiences they face since Sothis awoke and the relationships they forged to help them along the way.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Kaleidoscope

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! After several years’ hiatus from writing I have returned with a new fandom and a college degree! I hope that you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Each chapter will focus on a specific emotion or situation as well as one of the other characters and their relationship with Byleth. I’ll try to update regularly but make no promises.
> 
> Please be aware that there will be spoilers for the game, though I’ll try to limit them to pre-timeskip/academy!! 
> 
> Slight canon divergence because I love suffering 
> 
> Chapter warning: We’re starting off sad and angsty. There will be character death. Warning for blood. ***Major spoilers if you have not played past Chapter 9: Cause of Sorrow.***

“Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.” —Leo Tolstoy

____________________________________________________________________

“To think that the first time I saw you cry… your tears would be for me. It’s sad, and yet… I’m happy for it. Thank you… kid.”

The fondness of the words was tainted with rasping breath and a sickening tinge of copper in the air. Byleth felt the heat stinging behind their eyes, throat constricting on the suddenly frigid air.

“Father, father please, it’s enough. You shouldn’t be speaking now, you have to rest. I’ll get you to a mage the moment we return to the monastery.” 

“Byleth, I never did tell you about your mother. I’m sorry for that. I never was good at being a father, was I?” Jeralt’s eyes squeezed shut as another painful rattle strangled its way from his throat. “But these last few months… Seeing you smile and laugh, get angry and even cry… You look like her, you know. So much like your mother, especially now. Always so beautiful.”

The bloodied corner of his lips twitched upwards and Jeralt slowly opened his eyes. He gazed up at his child, black static already devouring the corners of his vision. Byleth clenched their teeth, reaching up to pull at the leather straps holding their father’s armor over his chest. They bit down harder as their fingers, trembling beyond control, continued to slip from the metal clasps. Their teeth broke skin and they gave a frustrated grunt before Jeralt slowly slipped his hand on top of his child’s to still their movement.

“Stop it, kid. You’re hurting yourself. I can’t even feel the weight, so don’t bother with it,” He said, the usual warmth that radiated from his gloved hands already fading away. “This is where I end, but don’t ever think that it has to be your end too. I wasn’t ever a great father but… I loved you. I _do_ love you. And I’ll continue to love you even when I’ve left your side.”

Violet eyes wide with a flurry of emotions combed over Jeralt’s face, as if committing every sign of life to memory. Byleth’s lip slipped from the grip of their teeth. The air was thick between the father and child as they remained silent in wait for their impending farewell. 

Moments stretched to hours and yet it wasn’t enough. Jeralt’s eyes slipped closed once more, never to reopen. Something unspeakable roared through Byleth’s veins. It was hot and vile, tensing the muscles in their shoulders and leaving nothing but cold cruel reality.

“Father? Father!” They cried, voice strangled and cracking.

Rain began to fall, drops mingling with the tears of the child that had fallen onto their father’s face. Jeralt’s hand fell limp. Byleth could no longer feel the gold sting of the rain nor the lingering warmth of his body. They clutched the former knight to their chest, finally letting a single sob wrench itself into the bloodied uniform. Color bled from the world draped in rain clouds and fog. Everything became grey for the child grasping the only blood they had left in the world. 

Then, there was warmth. It was all-encompassing, and the rain had stopped. The shift was enough to jar Byleth back to their senses and open their tear-chocked eyes. No, it wasn’t that the rain had stopped. Something had been draped over them like a tent, one of the capes worn by house leaders. Heat radiated from behind them, another of the students that had stood on the sidelines had rushed over to envelop the professor. Someone gently pried Jeralt’s body away, two others replaced Byleth’s vacant hands with their own, bringing warmth back to their icy fingers.

With the warmth came the return of color. The roaring in Byleth’s ears subsided mostly, pain still seared in their chest and twisted their stomach into knots. However, there was some kind of peace radiating from the warmth surrounding them. As if they had made it to the eye of the storm. 

It was without any doubt that this pain would last. However, the warmth from the students who loved them, the support from the professors who worked alongside them, all if it had already begun to shift Byleth’s entire world. The pits of sorrow and rage, the quiet happiness of peaceful off-days between classes, all of it had begun to bring a new depth to their life. To a life that had already become so warm, dyed with brilliant colors.


End file.
